Luis focuses his practice on labor, employment and immigration issues. Luis has a wide range of experience in traditional labor matters, including grievances, arbitrations, collective bargaining negotiations, union drives, and matters in front of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC). Luis has counseled employers on a number of workplace matters, including effective employee handbooks and policies, disciplinary and dispute resolution procedures, discrimination, disability accommodation, wage-hour matters, family medical leave, and harassment and litigation prevention. Luis has experience representing employers under the various state and federal statutes that govern the employment relationship, including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Luis is fluent in Spanish and English. His immigration experience includes employment and family-based nonimmigrant and immigrant petitions, Form I-9 compliance, visa processing, waivers, DACA and citizenship matters.
More Legal and Business Bylines From Luis E. Avila
- NLRB Revives Employer-Friendly Standards in a Flurry of Year-End Activity - (Posted On Thursday, December 19, 2019)
- NLRB Delivers on its Promise to Relax Quickie Election Rules - (Posted On Monday, December 16, 2019)
- NLRB Relaxes Standard for Employer Changes to Employees' Terms and Conditions of Employment - (Posted On Friday, September 13, 2019)
- Weed in the Workplace: What Michigan Employers Can Do Now that Marijuana Use is Legal - (Posted On Wednesday, November 07, 2018)
- Legislation Exempting Tribes From The National Labor Relations Act Passes The House - (Posted On Friday, January 12, 2018)
- As Legislation Stalls, Tribes Remain Under National Labor Relations Act: What Should Tribal Employers Do Next? - (Posted On Thursday, January 11, 2018)
- New Tax Law Changes How Employers Claim Sexual Harassment Settlements - (Posted On Friday, January 05, 2018)
- NLRB Levels the Playing Field for Employers, Reaching Back to Employer-Friendly Precedent - (Posted On Tuesday, December 19, 2017)
- Texas Court Permanently Strikes Down Persuader Rule - (Posted On Thursday, November 17, 2016)
- NLRB Issues New Report on Employment Handbook Violations: Do you need a Handbook Review? - (Posted On Tuesday, March 24, 2015)
The National Law Review has awarded Varnum LLP with the Article of the Year Thought Leadership Award for their coverage of the US Supreme Court’s failure to rule on the legality of Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Emergency Temporary Standard for COVID-19. The ETS covered all employers with more than 100 employees, and provided requirements for time off for vaccination, masking mandates, weekly testing, and much more. “Federal Vaccine/Testing Mandates Take Effect While Supreme Court Stays Silent,” authored by Varnum’s Luis E. Avila, Maureen Rouse-Ayoub, Stephanie R. Setterington, Elizabeth Wells Skaggs, Ashleigh E. Draft, and Justin M. Wolber detailed how these requirements were left untouched by SCOTUS in January of 2022, causing cascading effects in Michigan and beyond, as well as for CMS’ vaccination rule and for the extensive federal litigation surrounding the contentious coronavirus mandates. The article reached an audience of over 265,000 readers over the course of the year, speaking to the ongoing importance and timeliness of COVID-19 news coverage, and cementing it as the National Law Review’s Article of the Year.
Varnum attorneys Luis E. Avila and Jailah D. Emerson were named 2021 Go-To Thought Leaders for their analysis of updates to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which extends and expands several provisions of the FFCRA, and Mr. Avila and Ms. Emerson helped businesses and individuals alike keep up with the implications of the slew of COVID-19 assistance legislation that was enacted and revised in the last year, including ARPA. They provided actionable insights which were invaluable to NLR readers during a time when so many pandemic regulations and assistance programs were in a state of flux.